Madhouse BAFU

Nevertheless, the canton of Bern has now applied to the Federal Office for the Environment for an exceptional permit, as B903 is considered to have specialised in livestock.

The BAFU approved this exception. Federal Councillor Albert Rösti, in whose department the BAFU is located, was not involved in the decision according to the office's own statements, writes blick.ch. Politically, however, he is close to a party that advocates culling. The SVP uses such cases to paint the picture of a “federal policy against the rural population.”

The lynx is a strictly protected species in Switzerland under the Hunting Act (Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds, JSG).

A cull should only take place if reasonable herd protection was in place and attacks still occurred — which was clearly not the case here, according to a spokesperson for IG Wild beim Wild.

The case is causing political controversy: several SVP politicians had demanded the cull, while Bernese cantonal councillor Christoph Ammann (SP) initially rejected it and criticized the public pressure.

Hobby-Schafhalter können Schafherde nicht vor Luchs schützen

IG Wild beim Wild is now warning of a dangerous precedent that could weaken the protection of lynxes. Proponents see the cull as a necessary measure against problematic behavior by individual animals, even though there are no longer any unprotected sheep on the alpine pastures. Until 17 November, game wardens are permitted to shoot the lynx.

The B903 case is politically explosive because it goes beyond the individual incident. It is a testing ground for the tension between species conservation and land-use interests. Each side sees it as a signal:

• Proponents of the cull want to demonstrate that “problematic” animals can be removed swiftly.
• Opponents see it as the beginning of a creeping normalisation of culling strictly protected species.

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